Kroger (NYSE:KR) Given New $75.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Bank of America from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 19.81% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on KR. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim began coverage on Kroger in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.43.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of Kroger stock traded up $1.64 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $62.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 20,962,648 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,810,508. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $58.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. Kroger has a 12-month low of $44.48 and a 12-month high of $63.59. The company has a market cap of $45.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This trade represents a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 188,438 shares of company stock worth $11,657,598 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 884,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,688,000 after buying an additional 40,914 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 13,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,269,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,426,000 after purchasing an additional 281,878 shares during the period. Tri Ri Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,037,000. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 10,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys.